Klarinet Archive - Posting 000056.txt from 1994/05

From: "Jay Heiser, Product Manager, Govt Stuff" <jayh@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Clarinet Materials
Date: Tue, 3 May 1994 11:40:37 -0400

-> From: Chris Hill <Chris_Hill@-----.ORG>
-> The "graphite" clarinet postulated in recent communications must surely
be
-> thought of as a graphite fiber/epoxy resin or carbon fiber/epoxy resin
-> composite material, or some closely related composite. The stiffness of
-> such structures can be quite finely tailored, depending on fiber
content,
-> the precise nature of the resin used, and other factors, so it should be
-> possible to vary the acoustic properties, which depend sharply on
-> stiffness, of a clarinet fabricated from them.
Do we know that for a fact? Intuitively, I believe that the material
will affect the sound of the horn, but I haven't a clue as to which
characteristics have what affect. (why do delrin-insert barrels sound
like they do?)

-> Of course, plastic clarinets have been made for a long time, but I don't
-> know whether aerospace composites have been tried. As in aerospace
I think its fair to say that the group decided several months back
that we'd never really had a chance to make a fair judgement about
them, since Vito clarinets are both cheap and plastic. Nobody knows
what an expensively made plastic clarinet might be like.

-> As to my colleague Steven Popper's cast aluminum-titanium clarinet, my
-> hunch is that making them of sheet metals in the old fashioned way (as
we
-> make all brass instruments and the much-maligned metal clarinet) will
-> remain both cheaper and more effective than near net shape casting.
Are saxes made from sheet metal? Where's the seam? I'd love to see
how these things are made someday. Looks a lot harder than clarinets.
My guesstimate is that the diff in price between a clarinet & sax is
due more to the labor than the materials, although maybe
proportionately materials are the same. Shaping necks and bells, and
drawing tone holes looks like lots of monkey business. I think I know
how they draw tone holes, but how do they roll them? (my Selmer
doesn't have rolled tone holes, but my Strasser-Marigaux does and lots
of expensive flutes do).

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